Yum Brands has a rat problem, but it will have customers, too

There were a few "no" votes, however. D.J. Brockman, an account executive at WCCO-TV, said it would be a "long time before I eat there again. If ever. I don't care if it was on a local level or not!" Lauren Goetzman, an account executive at McCann Erickson, took a less emotional approach to her negative response: " It may retain customers, but it's not likely to attract as many new ones. How many case studies does someone need to see before they realize the importance of addressing the issue/PR crisis communications?!"

And many of the yes responses were qualified.

"Yes, they'll recover eventually," said Robert Arends of JWalcher Communications, "But they need to put the 'yum' back into Yum Brands immediately. Right now folks equate Yum with rats ,and that's a hard image (and video!) to shake."

Scott Gingold of PowerFeedback.com said Yum Brands will recover if "they close this store down permanently and/or raze it and rebuild to give people a sense of confidence that everything old that may have been touched by the rats is gone."

But many seemed grounded in gritty reality.

DraftFCB's Richard Backer said, "Somehow, rats in New York City just doesn't seem to be big news. Maybe if they served a rat in a taco ..."

"Everyone knows that New York is overrun with rats. It was way gross, but it shouldn't affect stores in other markets," said Thornell Jones of Fortress Marketing.

What you say: 84% Despite the gross-out factor of rats cavorting in a New York KFC/Taco Bell, an overwhelming number of readers responding to our poll felt Yum Brands would recover from the PR debacle.